


The Clone and the Cadet

by perseajackson



Category: Star Wars: Clone Wars (2003) - All Media Types
Genre: Other, also theres lots of violence in like FIGHTIng and training and stuff but, basically this is just a story about my oc keeva and a clone teacher he had at carida, i LIVE in this sandbox and do what i want and what i want to do is say that after the empire rose, nothing too gruesome??? if it changes i'll change the rating (dabs), so!!!! ya lmao i just think its NEAT, some clones were made into teachers at some of the imperial academies, this clone oc is from my clone oc battalion i made up heehee
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-07
Updated: 2021-02-07
Packaged: 2021-03-13 02:28:29
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,837
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29271015
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/perseajackson/pseuds/perseajackson
Summary: Keeva Caraxio is transferred to the Imperial Academy on Carida when he is twelve years old- likely the youngest of the transfer students, but he is determined to hold his ground here, amongst snooty other privileged human kids who transferred from Republic Academies alongisde him as well as the recruits years older than him and three times his size. His father directs the commanding Lieutenant to assign Keeva a personal trainer, a tutor, to help boost his scores and improve his skills (and hopefully to finally "straighten the boy out")- specifying that the tutor should be a clone soldier, someone Keeva will respect on principle. Keeva knows he doesn't need a tutor, but he also knows he is in no place to argue against this.Sargeant Chaser of the Blackeye Squad in the 303rd Battalion doesn't mind teaching- in some ways, it's not too different from his duties during the war. (Part of him also thinks this is a good way to... atone for his sins, in some way, to help make the Republic- the Empire, that is- a better place than how he saw it at the end of the war.) Still, when he's assigned a smart-ass of a boy to tutor in his off time, he wonders if this is going to be his most challenging task yet.
Relationships: ALSO brotherly relationships sooo, between human oc and clone oc, platonic relationships tbh





	The Clone and the Cadet

**Author's Note:**

> basically here in my little sandbox i like to think that there were military-adjacent academies run by the republic before its fall-- because the republic was demilitarized, but they still had like. lil police forces n stuff that helped keep things peaceful around the republic and stuff. anyway after the republic falls, obviously those places would be shut down and replaced with the imperial academies right??? well, all those cadets had to go somewhere... bonk! so here im sending a bunch of teenagers to an academy after their republic academy shuts down and training in part with a clone who has become a teacher. heheh!

_ “You’re being assigned a personal trainer,” his father said firmly. “You  _ will _ succeed on Carida, and this will ensure you finally learn the discipline you need.” _

Keeva scoffed to himself as he walked. It was after the lessons of the day, only halfway through his third dreadful week at this horrendous Academy. He regretted every complaint he ever made about his old school, for this new learning/training institution raised by the new  _ Empire _ was so much worse in every way possible. It was excruciating in every way. He absolutely hated it here.

He didn’t even get along well with the other young cadets who’d transferred to Carida alongside him, thanks to their collective influential parents and familial wealth. There were fifty of them in total, and Keeva knew each of their names, the details of their family members, which of their parents held what notable position within the new reigning government, and each of their strengths and weaknesses. There were some he tolerated and who tolerated him, but for the most part, there was equal dislike and distrust between himself and his fellow transfers.

The fact that every other student at this academy was even older than his siblings made Keeva uncomfortable as well. It was hard enough to try to stay under the radar yet triumph above his classmates when they were all more or less on equal ground, but  _ now _ his competition existed as people sometimes twice his size, three times his weight class, and with the advantage of having lived and experienced knowledge for five years longer in life than himself. He’d be able to prove he was better than them all. He knew he could. He just didn’t sodding  _ want _ to have to do it.

The only saving grace- the only solace at all in this treacherous place- was the fact that Adler was here with him. He wished his brother could’ve been spared from this absolute, vile hellhole, but that didn’t stop him from being selfishly glad he had his beloved brother here to keep him sane. Still, always the beacon of hope, Adler had insisted that they would both survive this place together. So Keeva believed him, and he considered how he would continue his role of charismatic prick who could rise above the sniveling weasels below him called his  _ classmates _ while still being someone Adler could be proud of. He’d never had to worry about Adler seeing through his facade before since their age gap had previously ensured they would never attend an academy at the same time together, but now…

It wasn’t that Keeva actively put himself on the shitlist of his peers, but he had no choice but to be the best in as many ways possible, and in such competitive arenas, being the best typically meant being the least liked. Especially if your name was Keeva Caraxio. He could charm those who needed to be charmed, and he could convince anyone else to detest him in silence. Adler was the only person who knew Keeva truly and thoroughly. His brother would see right through him. And there was no doubt he would get wind of Keeva’s lack of popularity and ask him about it at some point, but Keeva supposed he would simply deal with that greysor when it lunged for him.

Keeva had memorized the office number, but still felt a twinge of hesitance before knocking on the Sergeant’s door. A moment after his three raps, an accented voice beckoned him in. Keeva frowned slightly, unsure if he was hearing things, until he opened the door and found himself indeed staring face-to-face with a clone soldier. He felt his eyes widen, but he forced his lips to stay closed. His body, thankfully, moved on its own autopilot and stepped into the small office, his hands clenched tight behind his back. 

“Keeva Caraxio, sir,” he said politely, keeping his eyes on the Sergeant’s.

The man looked firm, but more tired than anything. The way he sat at his desk suggested he was either not fond of his job or was simply so overwhelmed with work of some kind that he yearned for a break. His black uniform was clean and pressed, and his dark hair was styled and trimmed as an undercut, with his hair longer on the top slicked back, though Keeva noticed a few loose strands falling against the Sergeant’s eyebrows. His facial hair was cut neat and tidy, and he had two scars on the left side of his face- one that curved from his hairline, around his eyes, and down almost past his nose, and a second that crossed the first horizontally over his cheekbone. Keeva thought he noticed a scar peeking out from the Sergeant’s collar, but he refused to stare to look at it closer. 

“Caraxio,” the Sergeant repeated. “You have an older brother? Adler?” Keeva nodded once, his heartbeat quickening for a moment at the mention of his brother. “He’s in one of my upper-level courses. Hm. So you’re the kid who needs tutoring, then, right?”

Keeva’s mouth twitched with irritation. The Sergeant sounded almost bored, but Keeva could detect that he was simply assessing Keeva as silently as Keeva was assessing him. He kept his posture perfect and his voice even.

“I’ve been assigned to take extra lessons in combat and battlefield conduct with you, sir. The hope is that your assistance will boost my scores,” Keeva said cooly, hoping the Sergeant would read between the lines and understand Keeva’s correction that he did  _ not _ need to be  _ tutored. _

“That’s generally what the expected outcome of  _ tutoring  _ is, kid,” the Sergeant said with a raised eyebrow as he picked up a datapad from his desk and began scrolling through it. Keeva could tell that the Sergeant  _ had _ understood his correction and had chosen to ignore it. Typical. His hands tightened behind his back.

“You’re a tiny thing, can’t imagine what Lieutenant Ondo needs a kid like you to-” The Sergeant cut himself off as he frowned and looked closer at the datapad before then looking up to give Keeva a confused expression. “Your scores are higher than some of the idiots twice your weight class, probably more. You’re  _ twelve? _ What, are you the youngest one who transferred from those Republic academies?”

“Sir, please do not underestimate me by my size or age,” Keeva said firmly, eyes never straying from the Sergeant’s face. “I  _ will _ excel at any task you present me with.”

“Then why the hell have they sent you to me for extra training, Caraxio?” he asked, leaning his forearms on his desk after setting the datapad aside. “You looking to bypass several years and kick it with the big kids?”

“I didn’t request this, sir, as my file will explain to you. I am reported to have…  _ discipline _ issues, sir,” Keeva said carefully. The word  _ discipline  _ crossed his tongue as smoothly as vibroblades. He felt his expression twitch involuntarily with irritation.

“You’ve got a spotless record. What sort of disciplinary issues are you giving your commanding officers?” the Sergeant asked in a similar tone, gesturing to the datapad.

Keeva bit his tongue before taking a deep breath and saying, “It has been determined that my discipline in combat is lacking, both in regards to how I face various challengers and how I utilize my own combat skills during sparring.”

“So you play dirty,” the Sargeant clarified. It wasn’t a question. Keeva stayed silent, his eyebrow shifting upwards slightly, questioning the Sergeant right back. “Do  _ you _ think you have disciplinary issues, Caraxio?” he asked then after a few moments of mutual silence.

“My record of behavioural infractions is completely clean,” he said unhelpfully.

A hint of a smirk found its way to the Sergaent’s lips, and he sat up a little straighter. “So’re your parents politicians or benefactors?” he asked coyly, and then added, after Keeva gave him a questioning look, “That’s the only way any of you pipsqueaks made it into this place, right? So which is it? I’m guessing politician with how you like dancing around my questions.”

Keeva felt his cheeks warm slightly, and he had to take a slow breath before he could manage to respond evenly to the Sergeant. “My father is the Nabooian Ambassador for the Senate, and my mother is a field tactician for the elite trooper corps.”

“Interesting combination,” the Sergeant mused with a quiet chuckle. “I don’t give a damn who your parents are, kid. It won’t change how I treat you, not how I train you, and not how I grade you. You either excel by your own volitions, or you fall from your own mistakes.”

“Good,” Keeva said, tilting his chin up slightly. If the Sergeant was trying to intimidate him, he’d have to try a lot harder than that. “I’m my own man. I don’t need the status of my parents to get me by. As I said, I will excel at any challenge you give me, sir.”

This seemed to amuse the Sergeant to some extent, seeing as he chuckled lightly again and finally stood up from his desk. He was six feet tall, the same as every clone, but their extreme height difference made him seem so much taller. He walked around his desk and offered a hand to Keeva, who obliged the handshake politely.

“Sergeant Chaser,” he said smoothly. “You can call me by name or just  _ Sergeant  _ will do. Don’t really care so long as you’re respectful.” Keeva nodded and replaced his hand behind his back as he continued speaking. “I’ll run you through my assessments, see how you do, then we’ll go from there. I don’t anticipate us getting to know each other too well, Keeva Caraxio. Sound good?”

“Yes, sir,” Keeva agreed with a nod, internally praying to the stars that he wouldn’t be stuck in this ridiculous  _ tutoring program _ for long once he impressed the Sergeant with his skills.

\---

Keeva could tell the Sergeant was at a loss by the end of the night. He’d successfully and flawlessly completed each of the various levels of the Sergeant’s assessments, even all the way up to his advanced entry assessments he gave to the class Adler was in. The Sergeant had sent him back to his dormitory with a bit of an annoyed look, saying that the Lieutenant was wasting  _ both  _ of their times, considering Keeva’s advanced skill levels, and that he’d work to sort things out by the next afternoon when he saw Keeva next. 

Needless to say, Keeva returned to his room feeling silent pride and having his ego buffed enough to ensure that none of the ridiculous buffoonery committed by his distasteful roommates would be enough to sour his mood.

\---

“I don’t understand what kind of joke this is, giving me orders to tutor this kid,” Chaser said, dropping the datapad with Keeva Caraxio’s file open on Ondo’s desk. “He should be out there tutoring some of the rookies I’ve got in my upper-level courses. He’s got a sneaky edge to him, but he’s efficient, and he’s smart.”

Lieutenant Ondo sighed and ignored the datapad, looking up from his work to give Chaser a wary look. “You want the truth, Sergeant?” he finally said. “Caraxio’s father put in a request for him to receive extra lessons, and he requested that the tutor be a clone.”

Chaser’s expression fell to surprise, and then to skepticism. “What the hell kind of request is  _ that?” _ he asked, itching to cross his arms. 

“I haven’t the slightest clue, but my orders to assign the boy a clone officer for extra tutoring lessons come from enough above my own head that I didn’t linger on questioning the circumstances too far,” Ondo said with an edge of irritation.

“But the boy doesn’t  _ need _ tutoring-” Chaser tried to insist, but Ondo held up a hand to stop him.

“I’ve seen his marks, Chaser. I’ve read his file, I know his reports from his previous academy. The only criticism I’ve heard from past instructors are that he has a tendency to fight  _ dirty _ under some circumstances and that he goes off-command to improvise during combat exercises, though never during exams.”

“He’s not even five feet tall, I don’t blame the runt for improvising or fighting a little dirty- he needs  _ something  _ to give him an edge against men three times his size,” Chaser insisted, sighing at Ondo’s frown and adding, “I don’t think I’ve got anything to offer the kid. Maybe someone else does, but I don’t see a goddamn thing I can do to teach him.”

“Unfortunately, the matter is out of my hands, Sergeant,” Ondo said, neatly pushing the datapad back across his desk with his fingertips. “Figure out what to do with him until the next marks exam, and then we’ll see about clearing him. I’ve heard that he’s got quite an attitude, so perhaps you can train him to be more  _ pleasant _ if you can’t train him to fight.”

Chaser grabbed his datapad with a huff and left the Lieutenant’s office, shaking his head with frustration as he made his way back to his quarters, wondering what the hell he was supposed to do with Keeva Caraxio.

\---

After two weeks of daily training sessions with Sergeant Chaser, Keeva had decided that the fun of impressing the clone every single day with his exceptional skill had grown as tiresome as his body from the double amount of physical exercise he was subject to thanks to his tutoring in combination with his regular activities and courses. He wiped the sweat from his forehead and tried to push his few stray curls out of his face as he sat and caught his breath. 

He could feel the Sergeant watching him, assessing him each moment every day, trying to figure out what to do with him. Keeva wished he had an answer so that these little meet-ups would at least be productive in some way. He was growing tiresome of sparring against older students the Sergeant brought in to give Keeva targets, and he was growing tiresome of the same extensive drills.

\---

Chaser was at a complete loss. Three weeks of daily training sessions with Keeva Caraxio and the only thing he’d deduced was that the kid definitely had a superiority complex. Chaser pitted two, three, even four older students against Keeva in various spars, and no matter how many times he got knocked or pinned down, no matter how many hits he took, he was able to manage to spring up or slip away no matter what and take his opponents down by the end of the round before standing triumphantly and giving Chaser the same expression of,  _ Is this the toughest challenge you have for me?  _

He saw the way Keeva regarded the other students- it was always with an air of confidence, the type that told Chaser that Keeva wasn’t impressed nor intimidated by any student or exercise Chaser assigned to him. And yet, despite that, the boy never complained or argued or requested a task easier or harder than whatever was presented to him. He simply took anything Chaser set before him and did exactly as he’d said he would that day they met- he excelled. 

It truly did feel like such a waste of time. He knew Keeva wasn’t improving, and he knew he wasn’t challenging the boy more than just testing his physical limits each day. He felt a little bad for pushing the kid so hard, but it was hard to know when to let the boy stop and rest when he got back up and fought no matter what. Chaser wondered how a kid so young developed such… tenacity and determination. What drove him to keep getting back up? He didn’t seem to care for fighting, it didn’t appear to be an adrenaline thing, and while Chaser was beginning to learn the tells for when things made Keeva irritated, he didn’t seem to fight solely from a place of anger or passion.

So what kept him going?

Was it just the desire to succeed, to be the best? What made him want to be better than everyone else? Chaser knew of Keeva’s older siblings by now- twins seen as prodigies for their brains and brawn, and Chaser had no doubt that Keeva had likely been compared to them his entire life. Still, by now, Chaser had gotten to know Adler fairly well, and he was a very capable kid with a big heart. More than all that, he loved his brother more than all the worlds in the galaxy. Chaser could see it in the way he spoke of Keeva, he could see it in the way Adler interacted with Keeva. Not that Chaser had much experience with normal-human brotherly interactions, but it seemed to him like Keeva didn’t act the way he did out of a desire to prove anything in regards to his siblings either, except perhaps that he was just as good as them, despite being five years younger. 

While Adler was certainly impressive and among one of Chaser’s top students by any means, Keeva was faster and wormed his way out of any situation far faster and slicker than Chaser figured his brother was capable of doing. Keeva’s tiny size helped, sure, but Chaser suspected there was something more to it.

\---

“This is pathetic, the boy hasn’t improved at all,” General Krays said with a dismissive scoff. “What the hell have you even been doing the last six weeks, Sergeant?”

“I’ve run him through all my advanced drills and had him sparring with some of my best students, General,” Chaser said firmly, trying to mask his annoyance. He’d seen this coming.

“Then why are his scores on par with how they were  _ before _ your tutelage?”

“I simply think the boy is at his peak performance level, sir,” Chaser tried to explain. “I don’t think he needs tutoring, and I don’t think he can get any better than the best his body is already doing.”

“I don’t care what you think he is, Sergeant,” the wrinkled man said bitterly to him. “His father expects results, and by the next marks exam, I’d better see this kid showing off something better than whatever I just saw him do today.” Chaser had to bite his tongue to keep himself silent, and Krays scoffed and turned to one of his lackeys, saying, “We’ll tell Ambassador Caraxio that the two months of adjusting to the Academy has kept him steady, but we expect better results at the next examination.”

\---

Keeva had to clench his fists to keep his hands from trembling. Sergeant Chaser was right- he  _ was _ doing his best. He was going as hard as his body could physically handle, and then some on some days. He was doing as much as he possibly could.

And it still wasn’t  _ enough. _

Because nothing Keeva ever did was  _ enough _ .

He loathed to think of the message he would receive from his father as soon as he found out about Keeva’s marks. He felt himself grimace and quickly remedied his expression. 

He watched the General and his dogs stalk off, leaving Sergeant Chaser to endure a few words from Lieutenant Ondo.

“Keevs!” a warm voice said, and Keeva’s entire demeanor cracked as he turned towards his brother. Adler walked over with a grin on his face and his hands spread apart, clapping them onto Keeva’s shoulders once he was close enough. “You did great!”

“I didn’t know you were watching,” Keeva said, his cheeks warming as he looked up at Adler with a bit of surprise.

“I wanted to cheer you on and surprise you,” Adler said, his excitement softening as his eyes scanned Keeva’s face, and he mentally kicked himself for probably looking annoyed when Adler walked over. “Hey, what’s wrong?”

“No, nothing, I just- I didn’t… do as well as I should have,” he said, trying to keep his shoulders straight as he idly looked anywhere except Adler’s eyes. 

“What does  _ that _ mean?” Adler asked with surprise. “You did better than almost anyone else in your grade. Hell, you beat my times in two of the categories.” When Keeva didn’t respond, Adler tapped his chin, his silent signal to get Keeva to look him in the eyes. Keeva obliged, and Adler said quietly so only he could hear, “What’s really going on? Who expected you to do better than that?”

Keeva hesitated, debating on if his deception skills had evolved to the point that he could effectively lie to Adler’s face like this, but the guilt already began creeping up his stomach. He heard himself mumble out simply, “Father.”

Disgust and irritation flashed across Adler’s face, and he raised a hand to smooth Keeva’s hair back. “I don’t give a damn what he expected, Keevs. You did phenomenal. You should be proud of yourself.”

Keeva was about to shrug or disagree, but Sergeant Chaser’s voice piped up from nearby, saying, “I agree with your brother.”

Adler quickly straightened and moved to Keeva’s side. Keeva clenched his hands behind his back again and straightened up, noticing Chaser’s irritated expression move to exhaustion as he got closer to the brothers. He waved a hand at Keeva and said, “You can drop the act, kid. You did damn good today, so get that frustrated look off your face.” 

He tried to relax his expression and said quietly, “Sorry, sir.” 

“They want to continue your lessons with me for some reason, so I’m reworking the lesson plan,” the Sergeant said with a sigh. He crossed his arms and gave a nod to Adler. “You saw how he did?”

“I did, sir,” Adler said confidently.

The Sergeant nodded and looked back at Keeva. He couldn’t read the Sergeant’s expression exactly, but it seemed like he was assessing Keeva again. “Take the night off, kid,” the Sergeant said finally. “Enjoy your break, and when you get back, we’ll try something new that will hopefully actually pose a challenge for you, alright?”

Keeva’s brows twitched forward in slight confusion, but he nodded anyway. “Yes, sir,” he said simply. He didn’t know why the Sergeant seemed more tired by that, but he just nodded at Keeva, then at Adler, and turned and walked off.

“Did he seem… weird to you?” Keeva asked, watching the Sergeant go until he left the arena room.

Adler shrugged. “Not really, but you’re focusing on the wrong thing,” Adler said, taking Keeva’s shoulders and physically turning him to face Adler, who grinned down at him again. “You’re free the rest of the night. I’m free the rest of the night. We don’t have to leave till ten tomorrow. Let’s do something fun!”

“I don’t think there’s anything fun to  _ do _ here, Adler,” Keeva remarked with a small smile.

“Sure there is, we just have to find it,” his brother said optimistically, wrapping an arm around Keeva’s shoulders and pulling him close as he led him towards the doors to the arena.


End file.
